London...home of good food, English, and Reese's

Here's a little something to start us off with, a picture of me pretending to use a famous London phonebooth...typical. (Might I add that all of the pictures you see in my blog were taken by either Whitney or Zora. I've been having to steal pictures since the pickpocket incident in Paris.)



Let me begin this blog with my first discovery in London...the English have the French beat on flattery. Although I only visited for three days, I was able to compile quite a long list of “sweet talk” or “pet names” I heard during my short stay.

For example: Our Russian/English/(not really sure what nationality he was) concierge at our B&B referred to my friends and I as, ""Darling" and "Lovely", and the man from whom I bought a waffle topped with chocolate, whipped cream, and strawberries (yes, it was AMAZING) called me "Love" as he handed me my waffle. The woman who gave me my change at a pastry shop didn't leave the table before dropping a "Thanks, dear," and last but not least, I asked a policeman for directions and he said, "Sure, love."
These are just a few of the reasons why I loved London.

Now, let me begin with the details of the trip....

As soon as I stepped off the train in London, I felt at home. I heard passerby speaking English, saw English newspapers, and was FINALLY able to read the signs. It was such a relief! I immediately bought a Glamour magazine for 4.90 pounds which was probably way too expensive, but definitely worth it. So, it was with magazine in hand, that I set out (with my friends) to find our Bed and Breakfast, Elizabeth House Inn*.

*I hope when you read "Bed and Breakfast" you weren't imagining a tiny cottage run by a cute little old lady, because if so, you would be wrong. I never I thought I would say this, but our hostel in Barcelona had Elizabeth House beat on cleanliness. I should have known it was going to be bad when I stepped through the door, placed my foot on the doormate, and felt my foot sink a couple of inches. However, setting aside the fact that our red-carpeted B&B smelled of mothballs and the ancient bathrooms had little hot water, Elizabeth House was cheap and provided for an interesting experience.

After checking into our B&B, we headed in the direction of our first stop, The Tower of London, but I had to make a quick stop on the way to check the prices on tickets for the musical, Wicked. Whitney, Zora, and I were able to buy three good seats for a reasonable price, so our plans for our first night in London were set...a date to Wicked : )



I'm getting a little out of order with my pictures, but here are Whitney, Zora, and I at Wicked just before the show began.



Our tour of the London tower was definitely a highlight of our trip. We were given our tour by a cute little "beefeater" who was extremely funny and full of knowledge about the history of the tower. He was able to give us full accounts on the stories of the executions of people such as Anne Boleyn and James Scott.

Here is a picture of us with our precious beefeater!



Following our tour, we visited the building containing the royal treasury. The pieces inside are ABSOLUTELY STUNNING...so stunning that you have to stand on a moving track to see them or else you could probably stare for hours.

On Friday morning we were able to catch the tail end of the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace. I wasn't close enough to the gates to see very much of what was going on, but I did catch a glimpse of the guards with the huge furry hats (not sure what they're called, but I love them)!





Some of the other things we saw in London were Big Ben (it made me want to watch Peter Pan), Parliament, and the London Eye.





We weren't able to go to Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's on Friday because they were both closed to do Holy Week festivities, so we made a mad dash Saturday morning to see both before our flight. Westminster Abbey contains so much history and is incredibly beautiful...it was probably my favorite thing we visited on our trip. We didn't tour the inside of St. Paul's because it cost about 20 pounds to visit. There was a sign in the front of the cathedral which said they have to charge so much for tickets because it takes millions of dollars a year to maintain.

Whitney and I outside Westminster Abbey...

I can't wrap up this blog until I discuss the BEST thing we encountered in London...I'll give you a hint, it's a topic that comes up frequently on my blog...Yep, you're right if you guessed food. But seriously, the food in London was AMAZING, and so American. It gave me a little taste of what I am going to appreciate when I get back to the states. The best place we ate was this little restaurant called Nando's. They have pitas, sandwiches, and wraps, but the best part about all this is they are all filled with CHICKEN. It was such a relief to not have to dissect my pita to make sure it didn't contain sardines, pate, lentils, or goat's cheese before I ate it. This place was so delicious. Zora, Whitney, and I went back for round 2 a day later! : ) Here is a picture Zora took outside of our favorite restaurant!!



After our first DELICIOUS lunch at Nando's we walked across the street to a, yep, you guessed it, BAKERY called Patisserie Valerie!! Zora and I shared the best chocolate cake I've had in Europe.



So before I wrap up this blog, and finally stop talking about food, I will say, I did try the infamous fish 'n chips. I enjoyed London's most famous dish, but Nando's chicken trumped the fish. This about wraps up the short version of our London trip!! Until next time!

WAIITTTTT!!!!

I can't believe I almost published this post without mentioning my life-changing experience. I was standing in the metro after my wallet was stolen pouting/crying/laughing at my bad luck when I looked in the direction of a newspaper stand and much to my surprise, I saw the glowing rapper REESE'S on the shelf!!! AHH!! Jeremy saw my excitement and bought me one (knowing it would drastically change my mood), and my day immediately took a turn for the better!!

I even had my friends take a picture of the wrapper, so when I came back to Spain, I would know I wasn't dreaming...my favorite candy still exists!